Zhu Tong

Zhu Tong
Water Margin character
An illustration of Zhu Tong, by Chen Hongshou.
Nickname	"Lord of the Beautiful Beard" 美鬚公
Rank	12th, Fulfillment Star (天滿星) of the 36 Heavenly Spirits
Tiger Cub Vanguard General of Liangshan
Origin	Constable
Ancestral home / Place of origin	Yuncheng County (in present-day Heze, Shandong)
First appearance	Chapter 13
Weapon	Saber
Names
Simplified Chinese	朱仝
Traditional Chinese	朱仝
Pinyin	Zhū Tóng
Wade–Giles	Chu T'ung

Zhu Tong is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 12th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes and is nicknamed "Lord of the Beautiful Beard".

Zhu Tong is a constable from Yuncheng County (in present-day Heze, Shandong). He stands at eight chi and four or five cun, and sports a beard a chi and five cun long. His sparkling eyes and beard make him resemble Guan Yu in appearance; he is thus nicknamed "Lord of the Beautiful Beard". He is also highly regarded by the magistrate of Yuncheng County because he is not only chivalrous, but is also very generous in using his wealth to help the less privileged. He befriends other famous jianghu figures and practises martial arts in his free time.

Zhu Tong and his colleague Lei Heng maintain a close friendship with Chao Gai. When Chao Gai and his six friends are revealed to be the ones responsible for robbing a convoy of birthday gifts meant for Cai Jing (the Imperial Tutor), the magistrate orders Zhu Tong and Lei Heng to arrest them. However, Zhu Tong and Lei Heng respect Chao Gai and value their friendship with him, so they secretly help him and his friends escape.

Not long after the incident, Song Jiang (the magistrate's clerk) kills Yan Poxi after she discovered his connections with the outlaws and threatened to report him to the authorities. The magistrate orders Zhu Tong and Lei Heng to arrest Song Jiang, but they secretly help him escape on account of their friendship. Since then, Zhu Tong's civil career has undertaken a slight deviation as he is inclined to side with his outlaw friends instead of performing his duties as a law enforcer.

In another incident, Lei Heng is arrested and sentenced to exile in Jizhou (薊州; present-day Ji County, Tianjin) after killing the singer Bai Xiuying, who insulted and slapped his mother. Zhu Tong is tasked with escorting Lei Heng to the prison camp in Jizhou, but he secretly releases Lei along the way, returns to Yuncheng County and claims that he accidentally allowed Lei to escape. The magistrate sentences him to exile in Cangzhou for negligence in his duty.